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Just wondering what motivates people to buy a new car. If your current car is lacking in some respect -- reliability, features, etc? Changed lifestyle? Just tired of it?
If not now looking, what motivated you last time you did trade up? Me, generally I don't start looking around until trips to the repair shop shart killing me.
I'm currently extremely conflicted on this. I've had a virtually trouble-free Toyota I bought new for 15 years, but recently it's needed some costly repairs, and I'm afraid this is the beginning of a downward spiral. In the last couple of months, I've put almost $2k into it when it's only "worth" $3-4k. However, being a Toyota, it should theoretically have at least another 100k miles or several more years of life left in it, but I'm terrified of more things "breaking." I'd rather buy a new car than systematically rebuild every part of an old one.
At the same time, my "dream car," the one I plan to buy next, has been discontinued as of 2022. I have a chance to buy one of several newer ones I've found near me (if I wait, they'll be older used ones and possibly far away), and I am SO tempted, yet I'm reluctant to "give up" on the old one. If it were simply a matter of emotionally indulging myself, I would absolutely go for the new one. I would say that describes most folks' approach to it.
We bought two new vehicles for different reasons in the past several years. 1. Had a 2007 Chevy Equinox with >175K miles in 2018. Started to have an intermittent ignition problem no one could solve. Eventually we could always get it started, but was worrisome. Traded it in for a 2018 Equinox that now has nearly 80K on it, but so far so good. 2. We decided to buy an RV. Started out looking at Class C motorhomes that we would tow our small truck behind, but none really wowed us. Then we looked at a fifth wheel and said: "that's what we want." That meant buying a full-sized truck. We bought a 2020 Chevy 3500 so we'd have few restrictions on what RV we wanted. We searched and found the fifth wheel we wanted and have been out many weeks/weekends.
So I got cancer and had to get chemotherapy treatments. Turns out it makes you REALLY sensitive to cold. And...my car didnt have heated anything that worked. The heat could work...eventually. And the car ran with some issues.
So I got a 2017 Nissan LEAF. because heat, heated seats, AND a heated steering wheel was awesome. It had a short range, but the other car still worked for longer trips. And it was pretty neat!
fast forward to last month. I sold my house as my cancer diagnosis became terminal and decided to buy something.....excessive. I mean hey, im dying.
2020 Tesla model-x Performance. 0-60 in 2.7 seconds, a 300 mile range estimate, and falcon wing doors. And sweet jesus. Nothing this big weighing about 5,000 lbs should move like that. Its scary EASY to hit 100. And of course as im undergoing chemotherapy to live a little longer it has heated seats and steering wheel-except better then the old cars did.
Just wondering what motivates people to buy a new car. If your current car is lacking in some respect -- reliability, features, etc? Changed lifestyle? Just tired of it?
If not now looking, what motivated you last time you did trade up? Me, generally I don't start looking around until trips to the repair shop shart killing me.
lol. So many assumptions built into this question. You're assuming people don't need a new car, they're just changing out their old one like a jacket from a few seasons ago, that they want to update. Aside from the people who trade their car in on a certain schedule, to get a good trade-in value, there are plenty of people who drive their cars until the mileage indicator is close to the end of the car's life, before a major repair will be called for ($$$). In some makes, that doesn't happen until after 200K-250K miles or more. In other makes, 150K is all you get, before the engine or transmission needs replacing.
I've always started with cars that already had 150K miles on them. Those have lasted me between 10-15 years before I needed a new one. Toyota or Honda only, bay-beee! I've never paid more than $3000 for a car. That may change now, due to the insane inflation on used cars during/after Covid. We'll see how the market adjusts in the next couple of years.
So I got cancer and had to get chemotherapy treatments. Turns out it makes you REALLY sensitive to cold. And...my car didnt have heated anything that worked. The heat could work...eventually. And the car ran with some issues.
So I got a 2017 Nissan LEAF. because heat, heated seats, AND a heated steering wheel was awesome. It had a short range, but the other car still worked for longer trips. And it was pretty neat!
fast forward to last month. I sold my house as my cancer diagnosis became terminal and decided to buy something.....excessive. I mean hey, im dying.
2020 Tesla model-x Performance. 0-60 in 2.7 seconds, a 300 mile range estimate, and falcon wing doors. And sweet jesus. Nothing this big weighing about 5,000 lbs should move like that. Its scary EASY to hit 100. And of course as im undergoing chemotherapy to live a little longer it has heated seats and steering wheel-except better then the old cars did.
So...heated steering wheels are the bees knees.
Wow! Just....WOW! My hat's off to you, going for broke with a great attitude! You should write a book. It would be inspirational for others in your situation.
Enjoy your Tesla. Watch out for that chemo, too. It can be quite draining. ((hugs)) More power to you, grey! And let us know if you do write a book.
lol. So many assumptions built into this question. You're assuming people don't need a new car, they're just changing out their old one like a jacket from a few seasons ago, that they want to update.
A lot of people do. A WHOLE LOT of people. Are you "assuming" everyone is thrifty and frugal and drives cars until it's impractical to do so? I don't think so!
Wife and I go through cars like it ain't no tomorrow. We get the itch after about 1 year of having something new. We just like having a new car and will probably both die in our old age with two car notes. It is what it is.
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